


Silver Belle

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Category: GOT7
Genre: Detective!AU, F/M, Genderbending, Not-Actually-A-Criminal!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-16 01:35:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8081551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: Mark had told him straight up. There was no such thing as catching Carly Lee. And to be fair, Jaebum knew he was probably right. But he couldn't let down the chase - there was something that compelled him on and he wasn't going to let her go until he got all the answers he'd been clawing after all this time.(Cross-posted from AFF)





	1. A Downtown Walk

"You don't have to follow me everywhere I go, you know."

"Detective Tuan seems to think you're incapable of taking care of yourself lately."

"For the love of God, man. Just call him Mark. You've got no problem calling me Jae."

"That's because I don't work for you. Yugyeom speaks your name like the sun shines out your ass, but that's because you trained him."

"Or because the sun shines out my ass."

"Very funny."

"I am, aren't I?"

"Where are we, anyway?"

"How did you book the ticket if you didn't know which country I was flying to?"

"I didn't. Mark did."

"Well, good for him, then."

"Why are we here, Jae?"

"We're in Korea. Seoul, specifically."

"Oh. It's nice here."

"Yeah, not bad."

"Did you parents miss it?"

"Huh?"

"Did they miss Korea so much they moved back?"

"Oh no. I moved to California on my own."

"No shit?"

"Yes shit. I wanted to be a police officer and there were better chances of me getting a job there."

"So you moved halfway across the world for a job?"

"So did you."

"Touche. So what are we doing back here?"

"I'm going to visit my parents."

" . . . Which explains why you're pacing the streets, searching faces desperately."

"I didn't ask you to come and there are plenty of places you can sleep other than my hotel room."

"Okay, okay. Geez. No need to be so cranky."

"I just spent six hours on a plane listening to you bitch about how the recycled air isn't up to your standard. I think I deserve some leeway. Considering how nice I've been to you."

"Nice? Cussing me out on a plane in three languages is something you consider  _nice_? Man, where the hell were you raised?"

"Kunpimook."

"Sorry, sorry." 

"Thank you."

" . . . Can I ask you some questions? About your cases. I promise, no funny stuff."

A long suffering sigh. "I suppose."

"Do you know who the Silver Belle is?"

"Why? What do you want to know about her for?"

"Well, I was training under Mark at the time, right? And we took care of homicides mostly during that time and worked out of his house. I heard some of the staffers talking about someone they called the Silver Belle. When I asked them, they told me to ask you, because you were the one with the most interaction with her."

"That so."

"Yeah. So, I figured, since we're just wandering the heart of Seoul, maybe you would indulge in answering me?"

"The Silver Belle was a woman who we called on as an assistant to organized crime about six years ago now. When we would question mobsters, bikers, gangs, thugs, cartels, her name always came up, they all knew who she was. They all said they had dealings with her and when we pried the FBI for help, they only offered that she was also a target in their investigations into casino fraud and organized crime in Nevada."

"Did you catch her?"

"No. She's not the type of person you catch."

"Who was she?"

"Carly Lee."

* * *

Mark put his cigarette out on the side of the building, making Youngjae wince. "He's not going to get anything out of her."

"He never does." Youngjae agreed, taking a long pull on his cigarette. "But he's convinced she's working for them."

"And to be fair, he's probably right. Jae isn't the type of man to fuck up this many times." Mark muttered. "His hunches and intuition when you let us be partners was scary in its efficiency."

Yongjae rolled his eyes. "Mark, you and I both know that I'm the Chief of Police and we need more detectives than just you and Jae."

"Why'd you saddle me with the runt, though?"

"Kunpimook-"

"I call him Bambam."

"- . . . Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not."

"Regardless, he'd a good young man and just needs a mentor. You're the better choice for him. Both of you are abrasive. If I gave you Yugyeom, you'd reduce the poor boy to tears."

"Shit, are you robbing these kids from their Police Academy cradles or what?"

Youngjae rolled his eyes. "They both graduated top of their class and are  _good_  at what they do. Just they need someone to help them through their first year or so on the field. Don't fight me on this, Tuan. I can have you benched like I have Jae."

"No shit. Working organized crime is practically a lost cause in this city."

"Perhaps, but we have to try. You know how well these cartels get around."

The front door to the police station opened and Jaebum walked out, hands in his hair and earrings glinting in the sun. 

"Not good?"

"Of course not." He dropped onto the bench alongside the path into the station, across from Mark and Youngjae. "I feel like I'm missing something every time I talk to her."

"What do you think you're missing?'

"Jae, if I knew, I would try it."

Youngjae shrugged his shoulders. "Look man, i just run the joint. You're the one who has to deal with her."

He ran his hands over his face. "I just don't know what I need to do. There's something else that I'm missing."

Youngjae butts out his cigarette on the ashtray and rolls his shoulders, bumping up from the walls. "Well, take a minute or ten and go back in there once you're collected again." He clapped the man on the shoulder and walked back inside.

"Is it her in there?"

"Yeah." Jaebum's head fell back, staring up at the speckled clouds of the California sky. "Yeah, it's Carly Lee."

"Which case do you have her in for questioning now?"

"Mafia. There's some casinoes she was supposedly involved with in Nevada and they decided to keep her services here in LA. I can't get anything out of her. It's like talking to a concrete wall."

"How about I sit on the other side of the glass for you? I know that kid's no help."

"Yugyeom's not bad, but she has no tells. There's nothing to get from her."

"He doesn't know all the approaches, though, and that's a bit of a big problem, don't you think?"

Jaebum sighed once more, the tattoo next to his ear flexing as he rubbed at his face. "It's so hard to train Yugyeom when I'm in the middle of such an intense game of chase."

"That's my point, man. I'll help you out while Youngjae looks the other way."

Jaebum met his gaze and they had a silent conversation through their stares. "Are you sure?"

"Sure."

"You haven't worked on Carly."

"I can sure give her a shot, can't I?"

Jaebum gave a jerky nod. "Let's go then. This coffee and Monster are going to wear off soon and then I'll have to crash for twelve hours."

"You really gotta stop working yourself hours like this. She's not going to get any more or less guilty just because you don't sleep."

"I really wish you were right." Jaebum led them back inside. 

* * *

Now, Mark had never seen Carly Lee before this particular encounter and he assumed that she would be a ~~stupid~~  hot little thing or an old bag that the mob found very useful. What met him was neither. 

Carly Lee was a woman in her mid-twenties, long, white-blonde hair in a navy pencil skirt and blazer set with a black shirt underneath. It was hard to tell at first, but the more he looked at her, the more her Asian heritage came out. She looked like she could be a mix, but he wasn't sure what ethniticy her Asian parent would be. She had plump lips and large, doe-ish eyes with pale skin. She watched attentively as Jaebum came back in the room, her hands folded on her lap with one leg crossed over the other. That's when Mark noticed the shimmery silver stilettoes that she had on. 

Jaebum sat down across from her, hair back in order and suit all crisp lines and clean cut once more. He probably smelt like fresh cologne after being around the smokers (he was sensitive about how he smelled, especially if it wasn't because of him). After he was seated, he just stared her down from across the steel table. Her brows furrowed and her head cocked cutely, like she didn't quite understand why he was acting the way he was. It wasn't visible from this angle, and Jaebum liked to hide it among the piercings, but he was wearing an earpiece, allowing Mark in the control room to speak to him directly. Yugyeom was sitting at the recording station, eyes flickering back and forth from the footage to Mark.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked, almost sounding upset. 

"I'm frustrated is all." Jaebum admitted. Mark was a little surprised - Jaebum was the kind of man that had infinite patience and a perfect poker face when the job called for it. He must be relatively comfortable around Carly to be able to speak so honestly to her. 

"I'm sorry. I really wish I could help more." She winced, looking down at her hands for a moment.

"Don't go apologizing yet. I'm not done."

She met his gaze, this time curious-looking. "Alright."

"What do you know about Park Jinyoung?"

"Lots." She replied, face open and honest. 

Mark hit the button. "Ask her where she knows him from."

Jaebum's eyes sparkled, catching onto Mark's thread of logic. "Where do you know Mr. Park from?"

"He's the manager of many hotels and casinoes in Las Vegas and I got to know him when I was working there."

Jaebum sat forward, like he hadn't gotten this much information out of her since he'd met her. "Which casinoes?"

"MGM Grand, the Paris, the Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, Cosmopolitan, Mandalay Bay. Those were just the ones he worked for when I was there."

"You don't know about before or after?"

"I never asked about before and I haven't kept in contact with him very much."

"Very much? What does he call you for?"

"Questions, mostly."

"About what?"

"Business and the like." 

Okay, so that thread was dead. Mark paused to consider this. "Ask her what kind of work he did for the casinoes when she knew him."

"What kinds of things - to your knowledge - did he do for these casinoes?"

"Jinyoung was the floor manager in the casinoes. He wanted to know everything and anything that happened."

"And did he work all of them at once?"

"No, no. He would work two or three at a time with a co-manager at each spot. They would work half the time he was supposed to be there and would report to him at the end of the night when he came back to pick up the tabs and run the twelve-hour money check and password update."

Jaebum nodded slowly. "Was that all?"

"To my knowledge." She gave him a shy smile. "By the way, I like that cologne on you."

He blinked, a flush starting on his neck. "Uh, thank you."

She smiled brighter. "You're welcome."

"So, you don't know of anything illegal that Park Jinyoung was up to?"

She nodded. "Nothing."

Something else occurred to Mark. "Ask her how mobsters and gang members in LA know who she is."

Jaebum twitched, fighting back a grin. "Do you think Jinyoung liked you?"

She considered this. "I would say he liked me well enough."

"Enough to . . . speak to associates about you?"

"Perhaps. I can't say I know Jinyoung well enough to give you predictions on his thoughts."

Mark grit his teeth. "Just be straightforward with her."

"There are mobsters and gang members here who know you by name and have mentioned you when brought in for interrogation. I need to know if you have any connection to them."

"As in, do I work for their organization?"

"Yes."

"No. I'm not a mafia woman or a gang member."

"Then how do they know you? What  _do_  you do for them?"

She sat back and assessed him, brow furrowed as she seacrhed for words. "I did work for them."

He slammed his hands down on the table and stood in a rush, anger sitting heavy on his face. "You  _just_  said-" 

"Let me finish, JB?" She raised an eyebrow playfully, leaning over to take one of his hands in hers. For some reason, he seemed to calm down and sat back down, letting her keep a loose grip on his hand. She ducked her head gratefully, twining their fingers together. 

"JB?" Mark snarked into the radio. "You let her give you a nickname?"

His jaw clenched in a way that told Mark he would have been punched if he was in the room. "Go on, Carly."

"I'm not affiliated with anyone, but I'm someone they hire independently."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm alone, no loyalties to anyone. They hire me, there's a good chance that the next day I will be hired by their rival and I will accept any contract."

"Have you been involved in the mass gang violence and mafia wars?"

She recoiled in horror. "As in, killing anyone?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely not!" Her eyes were wide. 

"I don't think she's lying, Jae." Mark whispered, realizing last second that she couldn't hear him. 

"Okay, okay. Just covering all my bases." He soothed, squeezing the fingers she had laced with his. "I need to know who I'm dealing with."

She managed another smile. "Any more questions?"

"What jobs do they hire you for? What kinds of things are you expected to do?"

"Surveillance. I'm hired to see things that everyone can see but no one notices."

Jaebum's spine went straight and there was an echoing bolt of chill that ran down Mark's spine. "Like what?"

"If there is audio visual surveillance of a property, the measures they take in screening public access if there even is any, the kind of people that are let in, the kind of cash and clout they carry. That sort of thing."

"Like a private detective, almost?"

"Kind of, yeah."

"I need to regroup and talk about this my colleagues. I'm not releasing you from further questioning, but you can go home for today. I'll escort you out."

It wasn't a long walk down to the front desk to get her wallet and keys and only a few minutes for to get her to her car. He turned to leave when the lights of her car flashed, the locks opening.

"Jaebum."

He stopped, looking over his shoulder at her. She was wringing her hands nervously and he didn't like the troubled look. "Yes?"

"When do you get off shift tonight?"

"I'm sorry, that's none of your concern."

"Okay, then when can I meet you?"

"What do you want?"

"I want to buy you dinner."

He couldn't help but bark out a laugh. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." She laughed brightly, her white-blonde hair shimmering orange in the evening sun. "I want to make up the time you've had to waste fruitlessly interviewing me."

His head dropped, bottom lip between his teeth as he shook his head. His hands gripped his hips tightly, as it trying to reaffirm that this was, indeed, real. "You're something else, you know that, Carly?"

"And here I was thinking you would be the first not to say that to me." She gave him a fake pout before laughing again. 

"Where do you want to meet?"

"William's Pub? They have great fries there."

"Are they open at eight?"

"Close at midnight."

"I'll see you there at eight, then."

She beamed another smile before giving a cute wave and getting in her car. 


	2. A Seoul Afternoon

"Anticlimatic."

"If you didn't interrupt so much you'd know that the story doesn't end there."

"It doesn't?"

"Of course not, moron."

"Hey, no need for name calling."

"There is if you ask stupid questions."

"The only stupid question is the one you don't ask."

"Falsities like that are the reason that Yugyeom wants to work with me again."

"That's just because he doesn't like the gore from having to run homicide with me."

"Have you ever considered that he's not a sociopath like you and doesn't like to see people all sliced up?"

"He almost threw up on the scene!"

"He told me about that. I didn't fare too well either the first time I seen entrails used like that."

"Whatever. He'll grow out of it."

"Mmm. I'm sure. I'm just not sure he'll ever grow into you."

"So what happened to Carly? Was that it? Dinner and then she was on her way?"

"You don't know Carly. That's not how she works. She wasn't like that with Jinyoung, she wasn't like that with me."

"What was she like with Jinyoung?"

"She told me that she didn't know him very well, and for Carly, that was true. But she knew more than enough to help us if we had thought to ask her different questions about her involvement with him."

"Involvement? Were they sleeping together, do you think?"

"No. Jinyoung was a friend of hers, nothing else."

"Who confirmed that?"

"Jinyoung did."

"Alright then. What happened next?"

"Well, I got to know Carly better."

* * *

"What did Silver Belle have to say to you?"

Jaebum stopped as the door to the station swung shut behind him. "Were you just spying on me?"

"Nothing wrong with watching out for a friend."

"And did you just call her  _Silver Belle_? What is she, the title of an erotic novel?"

"No, she was wearing shimmery silver heels. I've never seen something like that before. Think it might be a trademark of hers or something?"

" . . ."

"Don't tell me you never noticed if she had a constantly recurring article of clothing and you  _missed it_."

"I didn't miss it, I just never thought about it like that."

Mark's snarky response died on his tongue and he wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulders. "You're really off your game lately, huh?"

"My entire case lineup involves Carly Lee and I just have the feeling that she's the connecting link but I don't know  _how_. No one in those organizations that I've spoken to know her as much more than someone the bosses bring in occasionally. She doesn't talk to them and she admitted today that she scopes places out. That can't be all she does, though. It just can't."

"How are you so sure?"

"Because people's names don't get out like that unless she's the best at what she does. And I just can't see how her being a bad-guy private detective makes her the kind of invaluable asset that she would need to be to have her name out like that."

"You really need some sleep."

Jaebum rubbed his eyes. "I'm going to clock out now and head home."

"Hey wait, you never told me what she had to say to you in the parking lot." Mark called out after him.

"She wants to take me out for dinner."

"Really?"

He ran a hand through his hair, his cheeks puffing as he blew out air. "Nuts, isn't it?"

"Well, are you going to go?"

"Should I? I don't want to compromise my intergrity on the case. It would be a real pain in the ass for me to come under investigation for blurring the lines to let her slip away if she had involvement with these groups and I haven't done anything."

"Look, I think you should do it. There are a lot of opportunities when you're not in an interrogation room for intel gathering and people are more likely to talk there. That's why I go to all of my scenes in streetclothes and talk to the witnesses like that. Hell, it's just a dinner. Who in their right mind could convince a panel or judge that you were bribed to help her with a  _dinner_?"

"Okay, okay." Jaebum eyed Mark skeptically. "Why do you want me to go so bad?"

"Well, it'd be good to have you somewhere other than the station or the couch of your apartment with people other than Yugyeom and that creepy cat poster on your living room wall."

"That poster is my motivation for life, don't you dare badmouth it." Jaebum warned playfully. "And there is nothing wrong with Yugyeom. He's good at what he does and is pleasant company."

A short, slender Thai man walked through the door in the front of the station, eyes flickering between the two detectives. He nodded at Mark and circled around them.

"I'll trade you Bambam for Yugyeom."

"Not in a million years. I know how that little shit talks to you."

"I am not little!" The Thai man yelled, spinning around in indignance. 

Jaebum looked him up and down once, eyebrow raising. "I just interrogated a woman with more muscle mass in her bicep than you have in your thigh. You're definitely small."

"See? You could definitely handle Bambam."

"My name is Kunpimook!"

"It's more than I don't want you to make Yugyeom cry. You can be a real hardass."

"Oh, and you aren't?"

"Not like you."

"Just go have dinner, you pain in the ass." Mark griped, dismissing him. "C'mon, Bam. We have the reports from the coroner's office to look through."

"Ugh. I hate that guy. Do we have to? Can't we knock off early?"

Mark cuffed up upside the head anad pulled him under his arm. "Absolutely not. We've got three homicides we're working on. That's three families who deserve answers."

"Dick. You know I was joking."

"Mmm." Mark waved over his shoulder at Jaebum, walking off with his younger counterpart. "Good luck tonight, Jae!"

"Is that why you had me-? Oooooh." Bambam gave him a dark smile and waved too. "Have a  _very_  good nght, Detective Im."

Jaebum watched them until they disappeared around the corner into another nest of cubicles. He shook himself out and went down to his locket, grabbing his stuff and going to his car. He didn't know what they were up to, but he was too tired to figure it out and frankly, he didn't want to know.

* * *

Jaebum hadn't been in the pub for more than five minutes before Carly slid into the booth across from him. Her hair was loose still, but she had traded her business attire for soft, black skinny jeans that hugged powerful thighs and an overlarge black t-shirt. It caught his attention now that Mark had mentioned it - she was wearing those silver shoes. 

"I honestly didn't think you'd come." She said, smiling. "I'm glad you did."

"Well, it would be rude to make a date and not come, wouldn't it?"

"I suppose. Have you ever been here before?"

"Can't say that I have."

"Do you like burgers or more a chicken man?"

"Burgers are fine."

"There's a good sirloin one he does here and his fries are to die for, even if its a little bit of a longer wait than normal."

"It's fine."

A waitress floated over, handing them menus and taking their drink orders. When she was gone, Jaebum leaned back in his seat and caught Carly's gaze. 

"So, what did you bring me out here for? What's your real motive?"

Carly sighed, pushiing come silvery blonde hair out of her face. "I know you gathered that I'm an information broker. I'm not interested in hiding anything from the cops or the feds. I don't do info dealing on government institutions. Not even hospitals or schools."

He blinked. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you need to know." She pushed down the neckline of her shirt, showing off a portion of her shoulder. Along her shoulder was a thick patchwork of scarring. "This was because of a cartel in Texas. They wanted information from DEA units in Dallas and I refused. They shot me, asked me again, and I refused a second time."

"How are you still alive?"

"I hadn't finished another job they asked of me. So, when they paid me, I sent them the information in the mail and left for Nevada."

Jaebum shook his head and she let her shirt go, the collar jumping back up to sit where it was supposed to. "You're crazy."

She smiled. "A little."

"But seriously, what's your angle? You  _have_  to have a reason to bring me out here. You have stuff you want to say, but didn't want to say in the station."

She grinned. "Okay, I do want to talk to you about things, but not things I wouldn't happily repeat infront of your cameras."

"What is it then?"

She watched him for a moment. "You have the most stunning, sharp eyes I've ever seen. Not to mention those cheekbones of yours and the smooth flex of your face. I've had to try really hard not to trace it with my fingers."

"No, seriously."

"That was serious. You're beautiful. as for the cases, though, I think I need to know more about them to know what you're looking for from me. I told you that I have no problem working with you and helping you and I intend to prove that."

"And you want me to tell you the intimate details of this case."

"I would like you to, but ultimately, that's your call, Detective JB." She winked at him, a smile on her face that seemed permanent. How was it possible for someone to be so happy and carefree all the time?

"What I'm looking to do is establish your relationship to organized crime to help us decide whether or not you count as an accomplice to their recent crime and killing sprees. They all tell us your name and we need to know what you have to do with them."

"Oh." Her smile fell. "In that case, this is what you need to know. They don't tell me anything about the locations they send me to. All locations are public access and everything I report back to them are things that anyone, if they were looking for it, would know about. Things like fire escapes, common patrons, shift changes, camera positioning and number of staff members. They don't tell me why they want me to go to these places, usually don't tell me what they're looking for or if what they'e paid me to find and report to them is the info they even need. I get paid ten days after the deal and deliver the information usually in person to them on the eleventh day. I am an independant contractor as far as they're concerned. I warn all my clients that I don't want to know what they're up to, why they want it and make it very clear that I will cooperate with the police and am totally willing to sell anything they give to me anyone willing to pay for it."

"So you have no connnections to mafia or gang violence?"

"None. I don't know if getting plain-sight information counts as being an accomplice or an assistant to these murders you're dealing with or not, but that's the bare bones of the issue."

"If I were to give you a list of names, couold you check off your employers?"

"Absolutely. I am usually contacted by the same people over and over again."

"Would you do it?"

"Absolutely."

"Would you be willing to testify against them?"

"Yes."

"Even with threats against you?"

She sat forwards and leaned over the table. "JB, that's the beauty of living in the States alone. There is no one to hold over my head and if they come to kill me, so be it. I've done fine in life and I have no regrets to die with."

"Everyone says that before the guns and knives come."

She raised an eyebrow. "I've already been shot. What more is there  _really_?"

He shrugged. "I'm not arguing, just pointing out the fact that you have options."

"If my clients don't believe me, that's their problem, but I was explicitly clear. I'm  _not_  willing to go to jail for  _anybody_  I work for."

"Even Park Jinyoung?"

"Junior never did anything wrong. He was just a casino-hotel manager." She replied.

The waitress came back with their drinks and their food, smiling at them as she left, sending more of a leer Jaebum's way.

"Is it my turn to ask questions?"

Jaebum looked up from his meal. "If you want to."

"What's with all the piercings?"

" . . . I like them."

"I do to, that's why I want to know why you got them."

He munched thoughtfully on a fry. "I used to be a real ass when I was a teenager. One of the things I did to give my mother a heart attack was get all these piercings. But even after I grew out of that phase, I still liked them, so I kept them."

"Are you American?"

"Nah. Korean."

"I thought so. Do you speak Korean?"

"Yeah."

The switch in her voice caught him off guard and her nearly flawless Korean even more so. "Good then. I don't like when I'm having personal conversations and other people can listen in."

He hadn't used his Korean in almost six years - sans talking to his mom - and it felt a little rusty to use it again. "Wow. I woudn't have guessed you speak Korean."

"Normally I don't. Don't know a lot of Korean people. I was really into languages as a kid and learned a whole bunch. It came in handy for passing Junior information in a crowded location."

"I bet." He considered something. "Did Jinyoung ever give you specific instructions?"

"More often than not. He had things he was looking for. Mostly, I watched employees for him and the comings and goings on in the VIP areas of the hotels and casinoes. He would send me to specific ones each day for specific times and I would pass on observations about the goings on when he came in for his shifts."

"Huh."

"Yeah. I can't say that I understood why he had us doing things that way, but that's how it was. Why are you so interested in him, specifically, if I may ask?"

"In order to get help from the FBI on the case in LA, they want me to do work for them first involving you and the happenings in Vegas."

She nodded in solemn understanding. "Well, they probably already know everything I just told you, but you're free to tell them about what I said."

He gave a rueful smile. "Thanks."

"I'm sorry I'm not much help. You would really think I know more about all this, but I purposefully kept my nose clean so that nothing bad could happen."

"No, no. I'm happy you did. The less people who are guilty, the better it is. I don't like sending people to prison and certainly not the innocent ones if I can help it."

"That's pretty noble."

"Well, I try."

She paused in eating, taking a moment to grab a sip of her drink. "It's a violation of privacy and policy to tell me the ins and outs of the case, isn't it?"

Jaebum caught her eye. "Afraid so."

She wrinkled her nose playfully at him. "Too bad. Otherwise I might be able to help you."

And just like that, he got an idea.


	3. A Cloudless Sky

"Okay, recap."

"Mmm."

"You bring in an information broker into an interrogation on suspicion on her involvement in organized crime."

"Correct."

"You don't get anything from her, so Mark starts to help you. Mark asks the right questions and you get the right answers."

"Correct."

"You escort her out because you don't want her sneaking around the place and after you give her back her particulars, she invites you to dinner."

"Correct."

"And you  _actually go_  to dinner with one of your suspects, discuss her involvement in organized crime and are unable to take her admissions as statements of guilt because of the casual nature of the interaction."

"And because nothing she said made her guilty. But correct."

"I can't believe you. You're the worst cop ever."

"Oh, you have no idea."

* * *

Jaebum threw open the doors to Youngjae's office. "I have an idea."

"Don't strain yourself." Mark snarked. He was sitting off to the side of Youngjae's desk playing pyramid solitare with a desk of cards. It was strange enough to stop Jaebum in his tracks.

"Aren't you supposed to be out working? And if you're here, where is Kunpimook?"

"Bambam's out getting coffee with Yugyeom. They've been gone for almost an hour so I think they ducked into an alley for a quick makeout session."

Jaebum didn't ever want to think of Yugyeom doing something dirty like that ever again. "Regardless, I have an idea and I need your approval, Youngjae."

The man in question didn't even look up from his paperwork. "Spit it out, then."

"I want to hire Carly Lee."

"No."

"Youngjae, c'mon-"

"Absolutely not. That allows her too much insight into our practises and if she decides to tell the people she's supposed to be spying on that we're after them, we have nothing to fall back on."

"They already _know_  we're gunning for them."

Youngjae looked up and the breath stalled in Jaebum's chest. Youngjae was a couple of years his junior and about as intimidating as a soaked kitten hiding in a droopy cardboard box, but that glare made him seriously consider fearing for his life. " _No._  She's unreliable. If she wants to sneak around on her own time and she tells you what's what, that's her business, but she's not doing it on our dime."

Jaebum couldn't help but deflate a little bit. Mark picked up his cell phone as it pinged with a new message.

Youngjae relaxed some, rubbing over his eyes. "I'm sorry, Jae, but she's too much of a liability right now. If she proves herself otherwise in the coming weeks, I'll consider it again, but not before that and if you or Mark pester me about this, it definitely won't happen. Send Yugyeom or Bambam in here and I'll make you traffic cops again, got it?"

Well. There goes that plan.

Mark put his phone down and went back to solitare. Jaebum's phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his back pocket.

 _Private Number, Unknown Caller_.

"Hello?"

_"Dretective Im?"_

He scowled. "Who's this?" Youngjae looked up once more from his paperwork, but Mark was entirely unphased, starting to flick the cards at Jaebum, aiming for his face. 

_"Sorry, sorry. I forgot that's it's private number. It's Carly Lee."_

"Carly. How did you get this number?" A playing card clipped his nose and he stepped back some. Mark sat forward in challenge.

_"Another detective - Detective Bhuwakul? - came out after me before I left the station the other day and gave me another detective's cell number. Mark, uh . . . Tuan! Mark Tuan! I was texting him and he sent me your number."_

At his glare, Youngjae rolled his eyes. "Mark, get your gangly ass out of here before Jaebum uses you to repaint my walls. and you know I'm not a fan of red or dead coworker."

Mark stuck out his tongue and pranced away.

"He can die outside my office." Youngjae muttered. 

"He gave you my number, did he? What do you want, Carly?"

_"I was thinking and I think there might be other information that would help you. Maybe lead you to higher level arrests."_

"And why would you want to help me? What are you getting out of this?"

He could practically hear her pout.  _"Not everyone's an asshole, JB. I, for one, just want to help you. Money is money and I can very easily find other contacts. I'm not concerned about nonsense like that. If you don't want my help, that's fine too. I'll just text it to Mark and he can tell you. Either way. I just figured it would be nice to cut out the middle man."_

Jaebum sighed. "Fine. I'll hear you out."

_"Neat. Want to meet up somewhere again or should I come to the station?"_

He looked at Youngjae out of the corner of his eye. "You free for lunch this time?"

* * *

"Still angry that I gave her your number?" Mark's question was met with a heavy-handed slap. "Ouch! Okay then. Still touchy."

"You're an idiot. Why would you give my personal number to her? Are you on crack?"

"I don't know how you do it, but you make everything sound like a bad idea." Mark griped.

"Because that was!"

"Well, take Bambam then. He was the one who gave her my number."

"Don't drag me into this! I'm about as reponsible for this mess as Yugyeom." Bambam argued, scooting away just in case Jaebum got any ideas. 

"Regardless, did she have good information?"

Jaebum sneered. " _Yes_  . . . you fucking prick."

Mark cheered. "The Meddler wins once again!"

"I'm embarrassed to be around you." Bambam muttered, burying himself under his messy desk, full of incomplete reports.

* * *

Carly, as it turned out, was someone who didn't dabble in the henchmen of these major crime organizations. Jaebum had already kind of guessed this with the way the grunts they caught talked about her.

"The sexy one in the white pantsuits?" The henchman was practically salivating. "Yeah. We let 'er in and she goes to talk with the bosses. Comes back a little later and back out again. Looks damn fine in a skirt, that one."

Carly knew all about the leadership network in one particularly influential mafia family and almost the full hierarchy of a biker gang that had been running rampant lately. She even came with little graphs laying everything out, sometimes with pictures, sometimes without.

"I'm sure most of this is stuff you already have." She said as she passed him the complete folder. "But I figure better to give it all anyway."

"No, no . . . this is actually really good." He turned one of the charts. "Fuck, you are  _really_  thorough. You've even got how they're connected, their wives, husbands, children, cousins, the lot."

She broke out into a brilliant smile. "Oh, thank God. I didn't want to waste your time with this."

"No, this is . . . well,  _amazing_  is an understatement. This is more information than I could ever have dreamed up." He looked up at her. "Thank you, Carly."

Her smile got wider. "You're more than welcome, JB. Just say the word and I'll do as much as I can for you."

"I still don't get it." He put the folder to the side. "You _have_  to be getting something out of this."

She rolled her eyes, but her grin never faded. "I really am doing this because I just want to help you, but if it will ease that cop conscience of yours, you can think of it as providing myself with proof I'm innocent. How does that sound?"

He sat back, eyes narrowing even as he fought to keep back his answering grin. "Like an alibi."

"Whoops, looks like I've been caught." She winked, holding her hands wrists-together out to him. "Am I going to get arrested?"

He laughed and pushed her hands away. "Ah-ah-ah. You're not buying your way of of this with your body."

"Parish the thought! I am a lady of decency." She gasped, mock-offended, before leaning back over the table and grinning leacherously. "Unless you'd rather something else on the drive to the station."

He flicked her nose and she recoiled like a puppy. He sat back smugly, watching her pout and unphased by her quick change from temptress to miffed kitten. 

"Was that-"

"That was totally called for. You can't have sex with me. I'm the detective in charge of your case. If it got out that we did, I would be taken off and you would look super guilty, not to mention the charges I would have to deal with for possible corruption of the justice process."

She paused, like she hadn't considered that, then nodded resolutely. "That's fair. It's okay if I still flirt, though, right? I like flirting with you."

"I don't see you stopping even if I said it wasn't okay."

"Flirting is harmless! It won't even be dirty, I promise." She sat back, self-satisfied with her resolution. He didn't really know what to make of her.


	4. A Nice Breeze

"You totally are the worst detective in the history of ever."

"I wouldn't go that far. I'm bad at my job, but I'm not the worst."

"Semantics. You  _kept_  seeing Carly Lee."

"You say that like I was having an affair with her or something. We had lunch and dinner together occasionally."

"You saw her for dinner and lunch within thirty-six hours of having her in for proper interrogation. You. Suck. At. Your. Job."

"I don't stop my job to suck face with my coworker."

"Touche. But that doesn't mean I'm less right."

"Carly always had other information for me, almost always fresh. She never stopped doing jobs for them during the whole investigation and there was nothing  _illegal_  about what she was doing. It's really that simple. She was a wealth of information. It took some time to get used to talking to her, though."

"You seem pretty bloody friendly to me."

"I mean in asking her the right questions. Usually when you're looking for info, you've got to dance around the issue and draw the answers out of the suspects or witnesses. But with her, I had to work back years of experience and just blurt out what I wanted to know."

"Did you guys ever find out where she lived?"

"She told us straight up. We asked her for it so we sound send her summons for court to testify against her former employers."

"Please tell me you set up surveillance."

"Of course we did. We're not stupid. In all the time we had officers sitting out there, none of them ever seen her come in or out of the house. They never seen anyone, for that matter. But - without us telling her - she showed up to court exactly on time."

"You're shitting me."

"I shit you not."

"How?"

"I don't know."

"Well,  _someone_ has to know."

"I think Mark said it best, really."

* * *

"There is no such thing as catching Carly Lee." Mark said, sitting on the edge of Jaebum's desk. "None of us have ever been able to keep track of her, including the FBI. She comes to you, not the other way around."

"There has to be someone who can do it." Jaebum protested. "There has to be someone to catch her."

"Catch her doing what?" Mark sighed. "She doesn't  _do_  anything."

"No, I mean we can't find her  _grocery shopping_. There should be someone who can sneak up on  _her_. Catch her by surprise."

"You're obsessive, dude."

"Probably. I can't help it."

"Well, at least you're sleeping more now." Mark scoffed. "Maybe she's good for you."

"Don't say shit like that. People take it the wrong way."

"So, you're going to the prelim hearing for the Orestia family head?"

"Yeah. Carly's supposed to be there."

"Godspeed then, good man. I hope she shows up."

* * *

Exactly. On. Time.

Carly was standing in the witness waiting area for the state in a navy pantsuit. Her silver heels - ones Jaebum couldn't help but notice anymore - peeking out fron under the boot-cut length of fabric.

"How did you get the summons?"

Carly looked over at him as he sat down beside her. "I went home and found them in my mailbox. Why?"

"You know we've got surveillance on your house. You never came home."

"I'm pretty sure I did." She retorted, but without bite. "So, this one is for the Orestias?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"Just answer the questions as honestly as possible and if they beat around the bush too much, just ask for clarification."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Thank me? For what?'

She gave him a cheeky, but nervous, smirk. "Believe it or not, this is my first time in a courtroom."

He looked her over. "Actually, I'm quite ready to believe that."

"Good. Wouldn't want to leave a bad impression or anything."

He snorted. "I don't think you can."

"You don't know me that well."

"Oh really?"

"What, looking to get closer?" She bunted his shoulder with her own. "You gonna be gettting out of this when I am? Wanna get something to eat and maybe go somewhere?"

"Like a date? You're awfully straightforward."

"I guess. But like a friend-date. Just hang out? You seem like you'd be really interesting, but you leave all that behind when you're talking business."

"I hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty much all business."

"No one can be  _all_  business." Her eyes flickered across his face. "The fact you still have those earrings means you're not business  _all_  the time."

He reached up to touch them without thinking about it. "I guess I'm not."

"See?" She leaned back on the bench, watching people mill about the courthouse entrance. "We don't have to go anywhere. Takeout dinner at a park would be cool."

"You know, that actually sounds really nice." He mirrored her pose. "Do you like Korean food?"

"Nothing too spicy, but yeah, I do."

"Nice. I know a place. Real Korean food with a small, nearby park."

"Okay." She nodded out of the corner of his vision. "You wanna meet here after the hearing and then I can follow you in my car? The courthouse has a six-hour limit and this hearing is likely to take up a decent portion of the afternoon."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

Carly looked remarkably at home in her suit, sitting on a dirty park bench eating ramyeon out of a styrofoam package wiht a plastic fork. Jaebum knew he didn't look half as good, tie pulled only partway off and some buttons on his shirt undone. He didn't feel it, though, sitting with her. Even eating, she gave him all her attention as he told an anecdote about his childhood in Seoul and the time he accidentally wandered into an Epik High concert.

"How did you manage to pass by the guards? Aren't there ticket checkers at the venue?"

"Of course there are. I guess they just assumed I was with this older teenager when I followed her in and they just let me go. I stayed there most of the concert, too, only to run into my mother when I left to find a bathroom."

"Are you serious?"

"What can I say, it was a good concert."

She burst out laughing. "Well, I can't say that I blame you. I probably wouldn't have left the concert either. The problem would have actually been getting me away from my mother."

"Close to her, I take it?" He asked.

"Yeah. When I started this job, I used to bring her and my father with me sometimes to the new countries I was in and keep them around for a while. But, Mama got sick and couldn't come anymore. I fly out to see them sometimes, but I've been really busy lately."

His voice was softer, more touched. "She means a lot to you, doesn't she?"

She nodded, her face void and serious. "I miss her a lot. I wish I didn't have to travel so much. I'd go home way more often. I can't call as much as I'd like to. Come to think of it, it's been almost five years since the last time I seen her."

"Maybe you should take some time now, then. Can't be anytihng that important going on."

"Maybe. We'll see." She sounded distant, like there was something else she was thinking about, but then she turned back around with a grin. "So tell me about Mark. He texts me all the time about you, but I want dirt to use on him when he gets annoying."

He grinned. "Oh, do I have a story for you. So, Mark and I went to Police Academy together, right? And our current Chief of Police, Youngjae, was a couple of years younger than us. Mark had the absolute  _worst_  crush on him, so . . . "

* * *

Jaebum wound up inviting Carly back to his house, where they talked through all three Iron Man movies, ate three bags of popcorn and she introduced him to something wonderful - organic green tea. Perhaps the most surprising thing, however, was waking up splayed across the couch, the Netflix menu staring back at him from a darkened tv screen with Carly sound sleep on his chest, her ear pressed over his heart. 

"Oh God." He said to the ceiling. "I am so fucked."


	5. A Pretty Windchime

"She slept on your chest."

"You don't have to make it sound so strange."

"It is! She shoudn't have been back at your house in the first place! What if she had been out to kill you?"

"If she wanted me dead, I'm sure she could have done it more elegantly than waiting for me to fall asleep and then start hacking away."

"You never know. What if she had turned out to be a serial killer or a clingy psycho?"

"Bam, I'm right beside you and Carly hasn't been in the States for at least six years. She's not psychotic."

"You  _think_  she hasn't been in the States for six years."

"I know. Because I looked."

"Oh really?"

"I didn't ask for your sarcasm. Carly Lee booked a full flight from Los Angeles to Milan, Italy, where she stayed in her summer home for a period of eight months."

" . . . You really did track her. Ew. Mark was right. You should not be unsupervised. This is obsessive."

"Maybe."

"Nah, no  _maybe_  about it. It totally is. You  _stalked_  her electronically across the world."

" . . . "

"Oh God, you did more than that, didn't you?"

"I . . . may have a couple of international friends in INTERPOL."

"You fucking creep."

"No need for name calling."

"Whatever. We're not sharing rooms and for that I can only be grateful. I have a feeling that your little buddy-buddy nap with her wasn't the last you seen of her."

"Of course not. She became one of my key witnesses. I couldn't let someone with as much information was her get loose or lose contact with me when she was so vital."

"Uh-huh."

"You're free to remember that you weren't invited and you  _asked_  me about this."

"I'm learning a lot about you through this I'd really rather not know. It'll be juicy to spread around the station when we get back, though."

"Whatever blows up your skirt. The next time I seen Carly was after the Orestia case closed and half the family was behind bars."

* * *

Mark had insisted that they go drinking when the Orestia case closed. 

"I don't like drinking." Jaebum insisted, but let the older man drag him to some upbeat dance club.

"Then don't drink. Dance. Find yourself some hot little thing to take home." Mark winked. "You deserve it."

"You're an idiot, Mark. And they let you train rookies?"

"Correction,  _I_  let him train rookies." Youngjae cut in, pushing between them and swiftly ordering a gin and tonic. "And despite being a dick, Mark is good at his job. He's also right that congratulations are in order."

Jaebum ducked his head at the praise. 

"Go on. Get out there and dance." Youngjae urged. "I know you can, even if you don't think so."

"But I don't want to. I just want to sleep on my couch a little." Jaebum wasn't normally like this, but his voice was bordering on a whine.

"You're so boring." Mark grouched.

"You make it sound like dancing was an option." Youngjae raised an eyebrow and grabbed his friend's shoulder, shoving him bodily into the crowd. 

Immediately taken in my the mess of writhing bodies and bass-heavy music, Jaebum didn't bother to try and fight his way back out. Youngjae and Mark wouldn't let him back at the table if he came back anyway, just push him back out into the crowd. 

There was just enough light on the dance floor to refract off all the inexpensive jewelry and expensive clothes, perfumes and colognes heavy and choking in the air. He was quick to fall into the rhythm of the dance floor, thrusting and grinding along with the other bodies. He'd always liked dancing - had done it alot back in his younger years in Korea with a friend who was doing idol training. He had kept up with the training regimen that he'd done with his friend and had managed to maintain and retain not only his body strength, but his flexibility. The low lights and flashing colours made him feel dizzy, like he was caught up at a concert. He started singing along as he danced, not even noticing himself fall completely into the song, oblivious to everything and anything else around him. Mark and Youngjae might have even come by to check on him, but he was far from paying attention to anyone. 

Until silver heels caught his eye.

His eyes followed the sleek shoe up the short, powerful legs attached to them, tracing the muscular and shapely torso, jacked arms up to the beautiful, wide-eyed face of Carly Lee. She was smiling at him - like she always did - and stepped into the little bubble he'd made on the dance floor.

"I didn't know anyone could look so good dancing." She commented over the sound of the music, her black, strapless sequin dress giving off the occasional silver glitter. 

"Now you do." He replied.

She stepped into the circle of his arms, pulling them around the back of her waist. The song switched but it didn't really matter. It was just as fast, just as heady, and he didn't think anything of it when he pulled her close and they started to dance together. 

Under all the layers of jackets and suits, he would have never guessed she looked like this. She seemed to be made of pure muscle and flexibility, the low and sporatic lighting highlighting the divots in her flesh even more, especially on the one side, where the dress was cut open to show off a tantilizing portion of her stomach - just a tease - which was ribbed with strong ab muscles. He wouldn't have ever expected her to be to sturdy, so physically strong and he found it incredibily enticing. She was a surprise at every turn and he wanted nothing more than to learn all of her, inside and out. It felt like a craving, deep in his chest and radiating down his stomach. 

They lost themselves to the bump and grind of this club, hands roaming everywhere and chins and lips dragged across open skin. They seemed to have an explicit line - even with their lips close enough to breathe the same oxygen, they didn't kiss. They didn't kiss anywhere, only hasty nuzzles and borderline erotic breathing. The look in her eyes said it all - there was a purposeful distance there, a professional distance that stopped the free trade of emotions and he knew it was for the better. He didn't need to get entangled with her more than he was already. Hell, he probably shouldn't be on the dance floor with him. If someone knew what they were looking for, they could easily set this situation up as foreplay, police abusing their power and a misapplication of authority.

"Fancy meeting you here." He knew it was far too long after she'd joined him for the question to be appropriate, but he only just now thought of it, as the music changed to something else that was slower and nothing to really dance to. He took her hand, leading her off the floor in the opposite direction of his friends. "You here alone?"

She puffed some hair out of her face. "I'm allowed to go to whatever club I feel like, thanks. And yes, I happen to be so."

He sat them down on a couch, out of the way of the music, mostly. "I'm aware. I'm just curious at how you  _happen_  be in the same place as me the one time I would ever think of coming here."

"Mark?"

His eyes narrowed playfully. "How did you know he's here?"

"I figured he would be the one because he texts me to complain about you being a bore." She giggled. "i would think he's also the only person actually able to drag you out to a club, of all things."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"You seem like a much calmer person than this kind of place." She replied, quite reasonably. "We've been working together a lot over these last, what, eight months? We always meet at your house, your office or a hole-in-the-wall pub. Though, I must say, your dance skills are pretty good."

He snorted. "Just pretty good?"

"Do you have something up your sleeve that I didn't see?"

"How about the fact I'm a b-boy?"

Her mouth fell open. "No shit."

He smirked. "I absolutely am."

"Well, aren't you just full of surprises." She winked. Without thinking, he threw his arm over her shoulder and she didn't seem to consider it too much when she leant into him. 

"And what about you?"

"Me?"

"Everyone has a secret talent. Which is yours?"

"Well . . . " She looked back off onto the dance floor, her thinking expression unintentionally pouty. "I do fencing."

"Fencing? Like the sport?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Been doing it since childhood. I always liked it. I'm actually qualified for to be part of an Olympic level fencing team."

He pulled back to look down at her, eyes wide. Her expression was deceptively innocent, big eyes getting bigger and plump lips still lingering around a pout. "You're an Olympic-level athlete and you never mentioned that?"

"You never told me you're a b-boy either." She countered. 

Lights flared above as the music picked up again and it shone over the thick, corded muscle of her shoulder. Suddenly, all of that strength made so much sense. "To be fair, mine is far less impressive."

She shrugged. "Depends on how you see it. I just do fencing and happen to be good at it. I'd do fencing even if I was bad. You could get yourself seriously hurt if you don't know what you're doing."

His gaze drifted away shyly. "You say that like I didn't."

"What did you do? Was it recent?" 

He couldn't keep back the self-deprecitive laugh that rose up at her concern. "I herniated a spinal disk back when I wasn't as good."

"Oh my God! Are you okay now?"

"Oh yeah. It healed good and proper years ago. No need to worry." He winked at her and she playfully hit his arm.

* * *

Long nights lead to long mornings and Jaebum hadn't experienced one in a while. 

He remembered seeing and dancing with Carly, remembered talking to her for quite some time before Mark and Youngjae caught up with them and convinced them to start doing shots. After that, he thought he might have danced with Carly more? And maybe Mark did too and he wound up with his arms wrapped around Youngjae, muttering incoherently?

"I'm probably fired."

"It wasn't that bad."

Jaebum was laying across the width of his bed, still fully clothed from the night before and reeking of the alcohol in his skin. He was going to break out something terrible in the next couple of days. Across his chest, once more, was Carly, her ear over his heart. 

"We have to stop waking up like this."

"Fully clothed?"

"No, together."

"Oh. But naked and alone is fine?"

"I'll leave that up to you."

They were both silent for a while and he wans't really sure when he fell asleep again, just that when he woke up, Carly was gone. 

* * *

"All I want to hear is that you didn't sleep with her." Youngjae said as soon as Jaebum walked into his office. 

"I woke up fully clothed, so if I did, I'm very talented."

Youngjae snorted and smirked. "Make sure to tell that to Mark, too. I'm sure he's just minutes away from reciting a sexcapade that neither happened nor he was in attendance for."

"Thanks. I owe you."

"Just control yourself better."

He didn't reply because when it came to Carly, what really was control?


	6. A Sidewalk Crack

"How long did that go on?"

"Quite some time."

"Don't tell me you two started to hang out regularly."

"Okay then."

" . . . "

" . . . "

" . . . "

" . . . "

"Fine. What happened after that?"

"Another four months of getting too lazy to open the door for her, I gave her a key."

"You're an idiot."

"Yeah, I am."

"You gave her a goddamn key."

"Yes."

"And who else knew you did this?"

"No one. Not until after she left."

"Who did you tell then?"

"I was out with Mark, got really drunk and blurted out something about how I didn't want my key back. He called Youngjae and the two of them spent the night hovering over me hugging a toilet while they deciphered my rambling."

"Smooth."

"Hmph."

"And you swear you never had sex?"

"I never so much as caught a glimpse."

"You're still a terrible cop."

"As you never fail to remind me."

"I assume you didn't stop running into her in public, then?"

"No. The next time we met in public, thankfully, I was with Mark."

* * *

"I'm just saying, there's no reason that I should be focusing so much on David, but I just get this vibe from him." Mark said, leaning on one elbow against the bar. He'd chosen a much calmer place than a club for this after-work drink. "David really strikes me as the one who killed Emma."

"Maybe you're just looking at him from the wrong way and your intuition will pay off."

"I know. I just need one thread! One thread and he'll crumble completely. I can  _feel_ it."

"What does Kunpimook think of it?"

"Bambam had the same response to him that I did. He hates his guts, totally convinced he killed her."

Jaebum shook his head. "Maybe homicide was a bit much to lay on him so early in his career."

"I don't think so. Boy's got some of the sharpest eyes I've ever seen, discounting you and me, of course. We're the best."

"Well, since Seokjin and Yoongi went off to join the military police." 

Mark rolled his eyes. "Seokjin was too nice and Yoongi too sharp."

"You're just saying that because you were trained by them."

"Don't act like you thought Namjoon was all that great, either."

"He became Chief of Police." Jaebum raised an eyebrow. "At twenty-seven. Namjoon was a genius and he taught me a lot, even though I could have done without the textbooks."

"Where is he now, anyway? He nominated Youngjae to take his place and disappeared."

"Secret Service, last I heard. He moved out to Washington and didn't really keep in touch."

Mark nodded. "I imagine he's busy as hell."

"Hmm."

"Why do you think he picked Youngjae?"

"He's got hte best temprament. Never yells, but maintains a strict and respectable authority, can deal with enough paperwork to start a deforestation campaign and doesn't lose his cool. I mean, everyone was a panicking two months ago when Amber got attacked."

"Was that the one with those three fuckers who were screaming about how it shouldn't be a 'police reform' rally but a 'police-killing' riot?"

"Yeah. They shot her, remember? I don't know how he did it or who told him, but it was Youngjae who stopped that from turning to violence, especially after Victoria reflexively pulled her weapon on the assaulter."

"Yeah." Mark leaned on the bar with both elbows, facing what passed for the dance floor, though there was only slow, softer music playing. "I guess I see it."

"Did you think you would be better at it?"

"Nah. Just trying to get into Namjoon's head. He was awesome at homicides."

"Yeah, he was. I wish I could ask his advice quite a bit, actually."

Mark snorted. "Well, no point in lingering on it, right?"

"Absolutely not." Jaebum raised his glass and tapped it gently against Mark's. "To success?"

Mark grinned. "To success." He took a drink and looked back out at the people milling about the bar. Something caught his eye and he nudged Jaebum. "Well well, take a lookie here."

Jaebum turned around on his barstool, the lower lighting atmosphere of the bar still catching on the silver of those stilettoes. "Carly." He breathed. 

"Looks like it." Mark laughed. 

The closer she came, however, the more apparent it was that there was something seriously wrong. Elegant but personable in her presentation, Carly hit three random people and almost tripped, barely keeping her footing. The smile fell from Mark's face and he stood up a little straighter. She made it over to them, almost falling again trying to avoid a woman walking past her. Her legs gave out, but she threw her arms around Jaebum's shoulders and he had a tight grip on her waist.

"Carly?" Jaebum asked, Mark pulling back her hair. She was too pale, her eyes eclipsed by her irises and she was shaking. She was trying to speak, but her tongue was too thick in her mouth and she was having toruble swallowing. 

"Bartender? Can I have a glass of water?"

She came with it shortly, but paused when she caught sight of Carly. "Is she okay?"

"She's been drugged." Mark said lowly, leaning over the bar. "Don't make a scene, or else the person who did this to her will leave."

"You want them to stay?!" She hissed back. 

"Yes. I'd like to be able to arrest them for drugging and attempted assualt." He pulled out his wallet like he was looking for money and flashed her the badge. She calmed down quickly, clearing her throat and raising her voice more. 

"No need, sir. Water is free here."

"Thank you so much." He smiled at her and handed the glass to Jaebum, who repositioned Carly some so she was sitting on his lap. He clasped his hand over hers as she went to drink from it, making sure she didn't shake so badly and that she didn't drop the glass. 

"Can you speak to me? Point out who did this?" Jaebum asked, putting the glass down.

"Help . . . " She choked out. Her eyes were glazing over and the desperate fear that had her grip strong on his shoulder was slipping as the drug took full effect. She started to slide off his lap and his grip tightened. "JB." She made a whimper noise as her head lolled onto his shoulder and she went entirely limp.

"Call-"

"Yugyeom and Bambam are almost here." Mark interrupted. "Yugyeom's going to stand at the front of the bar, Bambam around the back. I'll go looking for her drugger."

"Careful. I'll stay here just in case he or she comes looking for her." He nodded at Carly, who blinked half-lidded eyes at Mark, then turned her uncomprehending stare onto Jaebum.

"Good." And then Mark disappeared into the unsuspecting crowd. 

Jaebum started scanning the crowd, looking for tables with abandoned glasses. He wasn't in the best position to see everywhere in the bar and no doubt that Mark was already actively scanning better than he would be able to. 

"There . . . " Carly whimpered, but she didn't point and he couldn't see her eyes. 

"There you are, Carly."

Jaebum's head snapped to the left and he spotted the talking man. He gave off a very greasy feel even though he was immaculate and Jaebum wanted to shower the second the other man smiled at him. 

"Sorry about her. Just can't hold her liquor, you know?" He gave a laugh that made Jaebum's hair stand on end. "She's a clingy drunk. I'll take her form here."

Jaebum's arms tightened around her. "I think that's quite alright. I've got her."

"You think I'll let some random man take my friend home?"

"Who said anything about taking her home?" He raised an eyebrow. "I had the bartender call her an ambulance. If she's drunk enough to just fall on me, she probably needs medical help, wouldn't you think? If you're so close with her, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind being the one in the ambulance with her."

"You would go in an ambulance with some woman you don't know?" The man snorted.

"I'm a cop. Just because I'm off-duty doesn't mean it's not my responsibility."

The man stiffened. "A cop, huh?" 

"You're damn right." His eyes narrowed. "Stay the fuck away from Carly."

He abruptly turned and left, making a dash to the entrance. Jaebum knew that Mark saw the move and Yugyeom was right there to take him down. 

Carly whimpered again at his neck, her body starting with the cold sweats. He was instantly focused on her again, standing as best he could with her in his arms and walking out of the club. His car was parked on the sidestreet - he just hoped that no one called the cops on  _him_  for walking out of a bar with an unconscious girl in his arms.

* * *

Jaebum was up with Carly all night. 

She ran cold sweats all night, body twitching and jerking at odd times and once she threw up. She had been unable to move herself, though, and it was likely if Jaebum hadn't been there, she would have drowned in it. Her body finally calmed down sometime around five in the morning, after the second time he had washed her in his tub. Her heartrate had calmed down again and she was breathing through her nose, which meant her bodily distress had calmed down. 

They both fell asleep properly sometime around six in the morning.

* * *

Noon rolled around and the sunlight was far too bright, directly in his eyes. He checked the time. 

"Oh, fuck that." He snapped at nothing. Six hours was far from enough sleep, especially with how Carly had her face buried in his shoulder, all warm and soft dressed up in his nightclothes. 

"Yeah." She moaned into his skin. She took some of her hair and put it over his eyes. 

"How are you feeling?" He asked gently, running his hand up her back.

"I want to die. What happened last night? I remember feeling terrible and finding you."

"Whoever you were meeting with drugged you. I'd say a date rape powder from the side effects."

"Fuck." She replied, burying further into him. "Thank you. For helping me."

"Don't worry about it." He rubbed her back more. "How is your body feeling? Do you still feel sick?"

"I feel really weak." She replied. "Like if I try to stand that my legs will give out on me. My heads also hurts a lot."

"Come on. Roll off me for a minute, I'll close all the windows up and then we'll get you cleaned up."

* * *

"Hey man." Mark was at his side the minute he walked into the station. "How is she?"

"She's fine. Staying over at my place again tonight."

"She not well enough to go home?" His brows creased in worry.

"No, no, she's recovered, but she didn't want to go home."

"Oh, good."

"Detective?" Yugyeom and Bambam appeared around a corner. "We wanted to tell you that we pressed charges to the man from the bar."

"Thank you, gentlemen." Jaebum nodded at them. "I'll have Carly come by tomorrow to sign as the victim."

He ducked into his office and sat down on the chair, running his hands through his hair. "Ah, shit."

* * *

A man walked into the station and up into Jaebum's office. 

"Are you Detective Jaebum Im?"

He looked up from his paperwork. "Yes I am. And who are you?'

"I am a representative of the Halsey family." He walked up to his desk and pulled out an envelope, setting it on the desk. "We've been unable to contact Miss Carly Lee, but we know she's with you. I am here to apologize to her on behalf of the Halsey family for one of the sons' troubling interaction with her two days previous. We understand if you throw out or dismiss this request, but we would greatly appreciate it if you would do us this favour."

Jaebum looked down at the package. "I'll consider it."

"That's all we ask." He smiled and bowed a little bit, abruptly turning around and walking out. 

He reached out and opened the package. Inside was an apologizing letter, a lot of money and a ring in a plastic bag. 

"Shit." Jaebum wheezed, throwing the items away. "Definitely not. Absolutely, definitely not."


	7. A Coffee House

"Holy shit,  _that's_  what we brought that man in for? He assaulted  _Carly_?"

"He didn't get to assault her because we were there, but he was brought up on charges of attempted rape and drugging."

"Holy balls."

"Try living it."

"You're ballsy, man. Really ballsy."

"Thank you?"

"You're welcome. What happened after that? Did Carly stay longer with you?"

"She stayed for a week and I eventually brought the package from the Halsey family back to her. She had nightmares the first couple of nights and we slept on a blow up mattress in my living room. She got less jumpy after I gave her the package."

"So, what was the package? The letter, some money and a ring?"

"Yeah."

"Why would that make her feel better?"

"The Halseys are known for two things - amazing lawyers and rigorous dicipline. Fredrick Halsey, the man who went to assault Carly, was the firstborn son to the matriarch, Elizabeth. She didn't take kindly to her son trying to assault an employee of hers."

"Okay. What does the ring mean?"

"Bloody hell, you're dense. She had his hand cut off and sent her the ring as a sign of his punishment."

"Fuck."

"Yeah. According to Carly, she met Elizabeth in person a few days after she left my apartment and Elizabeth promised to leave her son out to dry in the court systems. As it stands now, Fredrick has been brought up on attempted sexual assault, drugging, criminal activity and murder and pronounced guilty with no parole. Elizabeth refused to send lawyers or money to her son and won't allow the case to be reheard."

"Why would she do that to her own son?"

"Because Elizabeth is a woman who had Fredrick by the same manner of action that lead him to his position."

"Oh balls."

"Those are the main culprits."

"Hot damn. So then what?"

"Carly did Elizabeth's jobs. She showed up at my door occasionally after nightmares and eventually, with no ties left to each other case-wise, we started hanging out."

"Just like . . . regular people?"

"Something like that."

"I really don't believe you."

"You loss then, I suppose. You'll just have to take my word for it, because Mark doesn't know shit about this part of our relationship."

* * *

"You know, I can honestly say that I've never seen a crime family do this sort of thing. I never expected Elizabeth to actually keep her promise."

Carly looked up from her white hot chocolate. "Why not?"

"Quite literally, because she's a crime matriarch and Fred was one of her best henchmen."

She shook her head, her leg tapping his under the table. "Mmm, nah. Lizzie's not like that. Her family was horrible to her, so she doesn't take blood relations as more than they're worth. She trusts me more than her own daughters."

Jaebum's mouth fell open. "I really find that hard to believe."

"It's true. She treats all her children like associates. Everyone at arm's length and cards close to her chest. It might be why they're all so screwed up."

He huffed out a laugh. "I think you're onto something there."

She shrugged. "They're all grown and that's something for their therapists to decide now. I'm certainly not going to say anything."

"I don't blame you. It's been a couple of months since Fred was sentenced to prison. How've your nightmares been?"

She shrugged again, this time not as cheekily. "Not great. I don't get them too much anymore, but it seems that when I do have them, they're really bitterly intense."

He frowned, reaching across the table and taking her hand. "What happened?"

She shook her head. "Not here."

"That bad, huh?" The coffee shop was empty, save for the two young baristas manning the counter and completely wrapped up in a conversation about smartphones. 

Her voice dropped even lower. "Yeah. In fact, I don't want to talk about it at all."

"Are you sure? It really helped you the last time we sat down."

"Yeah, not this time. I just want to forget about it." She shook her head again, but this time like she was trying to shake the memories out of it. 

He took the cue. "How's everything else, business-wise, been going?"

"Not much, not much. It seems since the Orestias went down followed by the Halsey scandal, they're all taking a breather to reevaluate themselves. That's what they said, anyway. I know they're going and hiring others to see if they can get someone as good as I am to replace me."

"Replace you?"

"Someone who won't cooperate with the police." She elaborated. "But they won't. I'm the best in the state and they know it. Once they're done their test fishing for new talent, they'll come back to me and business will pick up again."

"Happen often?"

"This isn't the first time I've cooperated with the police. And like I said, I've got a lot of long-term clients who know how I operate and carefully work around giving me information. Halsey's one of them. Lizzie doesn't tell me a thing about her plans and she works with me directly, keeping most of her actual force hidden. Lizzie is a very calculated person. If there was someone better for the job, she would have gone to them and I would know."

"Well, I mean, as long as you're not looking for a part-time job soon, or anything . . . "

"Oh God no." She laughed. "I've got more money than I know what to do with right now. I would never need to work like that."

He wrinkled his nose at her. "Mind sharing some of those riches with me? I could use some help with my rent sometimes, you know."

She wrinkled her nose right back. "I'll consider it."

He shook his cup and found it empty. She went to take a sip and pouted when it came back empty. "Wanna go somewhere else? It's not exactly stimulating in here."

"It's not, is it?" She surveyed the empty shop, eyeing the bored baristas for a moment before looking back at him. "Where were you thinking?"

"Well, it's not exactly  _stimulating_ , but I have some errands to run? There's dinner in it for you back at my place."

"Neat. I'm in then."

"You walked here, right?"

"Yeah, I did. Why?"

"I just didn't want you to leave your car."

She giggled. "You're sweet."

"Huh?"

"You just assumed I'd want to ride with you."

He blinked, suddenly nervous and lost. It felt like he'd overstepped some comfort boundary. " . . . Wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would! I'm just messing with you." She was grinning when she reached across, smoothing out the lines between his brows. "You're really cute when you're flustered."

"Yeah, well, you're the only one that throws curve balls like this." He retorted, trying and failing not to sound like a child. 

"C'mon then,  _Jaebummie~_ , we have errands to run and you've got a dinner to take me."

He heaved himself out of the seat, cutely glowering at her as they left. "Why do I put myself in these situations with you? I set myself up for failure."

"Maybe, but I like it, so that's all that matters." She bumped his hip with hers, nuzzling into him when he threw his arm around her shoulders. 

He snorted. "Yeah, it probably is."

* * *

Jaebum and Carly wound up arguing over the merits of organic green tea the whole time they were in the grocery store. It changed to how plastic money was better as currency than paper money and how just one colour made it hard to tell money apart.

"I'm just saying, I lived in Canada for a year and a half and it was really helpful that all the bills are different colours." She defended.

"And you've lived in the States long enough to get used to just green money."

"I haven't, though! I keep thinking it's a twenty when it's actually a one and the cashiers look at me funny!"

"It could also be because you're a walking disaster zone. How you manage to look so good all the time baffles me."

"You're such a great liar, telling me I look good all the time." She jibbed, poking him in the side as he tried to open the door with arms full of groceries. 

"You want to be a pain in the ass, then you open the door. You've got a key."

"I think you're doing just fine." She chuckled. He grumbled half-hearted swears under his breath, knowing she was making faces at him the whole time. 

He did manage to get the door open, staunchly ignoring Carly's little cheer and leading them into the kitchen. They dumped the bags onto the kitchen table, him sorting out the things he'd need presently for dinner while she put away the rest then plopped herself down at the table, idly watching him. 

"I still think organic green tea would really help you. It makes my skin as clear as the sky."

He snorted. "Nothing short of a disappearance of stress will clear up my skin,  _mom_. You sound like Mark, telling me I'm not handsome enough to be his partner."

"I never said you weren't handsome. You would just be more handsome with clear skin."

"You are literally impossible."

"And yet, you like me so much that I have a key to your apartment. I state that knowing that your best friend and partner, Mark Tuan, does not."

"You're impossible, but Mark is  _unbearable_."

"He can't be that bad."

"You drive him home next time he's blackout drunk and sentimental, see how much 'friendly' groping and kissing you can stand before you leave him on the side of the road."

"You left Mark on the side of the road once?!"

"Of course not, but I was  _seriously_  considering it. I actually stopped the car when he reached up from the backseat and touched my junk."

" . . . Like, a friendly pat or a full wrap around?"

"Try a vice clench." He was very satified to see her wince. "Yeah. Not such so cute after that, huh?"

"You make a fair point, my friend."

"It was a real test of our friendship. I passed, but he doesn't remember."

"He doesn't?"

"No. But I made sure that he has proof it happened."

"You need to show me."

"Maybe if Mark ever really pisses me off, but not until then."

"I can dig that."

"Get me the celery?'

"Okay."

Jaebum took the time in the ensuing silence to recognize how much of a newly-married couple they sounded like. He didn't manage to come to terms with it. 

"Have any idea of what kind of movie you want to watch?" He asked instead.

"Jaws? Everybody I talk to says its a classic, but I've never seen it for myself and I want to see if it's actually worth anything, since Spielburg is a real hit-or-miss kind of director."

"Sure. It should be on my Netflix."

"I'll go see. Should I start it if I find it?"

"You can. I won't be long."

* * *

"How is that a classic?!" Carly ranted, pacing around the apartment as Jaebum changed the sheets on his bed, preparing for sleep. She was still here, so it was likely she was staying the night again. She'd stolen one of his shirts already and had showered. 

"What did you find so wrong with it?" He knew, but it was best to let her rant and get it out of her system or she'd want to talk about it tomorrow too.

"Firstly, did he even  _think_  to research sharks? Like, does he have any idea how they  _actually work_? Sharks bite things, but they don't chew and their teeth aren't designed to pull and tear. Did they take a look at a crocodile and think 'Well, that's good enough'? And sharks don't reverse! They can't swim backward! And once you hurt them, they run away! They're not aggressive like that, even Great Whites. Honestly, I'm not asking for full scientific perfection, but the least you can do is not insult hte general public."

"You do realize that film terrified people for years. Thousands of people stopped going into the ocean because they were afraid of shark attacks and the US almost legalized their hunting because of that movie."

"Are you fucking serious?!"

"No joke."

"Wow." She paused in the middle of the room, mouth flapping like a pedal-bin lid. "I feel so bad for anyone publicly educated in America."

"You should."

"Like,- You- You can't be serious."

"I totally am."

He tucked in the last of the sheets and she very rudely flopped down onto the freshly made bed. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Oh my God."

He shurgged. "Mass media's like that, Carly."

She shook her head. "Nope. I don't want to believe that. You and me are going to sleep now and we're going to pretend all of that never happened."

He snorted. "I haven't even showered yet."

"Then go shower so we can hurry up with the process."

He ruffled her hair with a smirk. "You're so needy. You're making me breakfast tomorrow."

She rolled onto her stomach, eyes narrowed. "You use that coconut shampoo and you've got yourself a deal."

He winked, pulling his shirt off and throwing it onto his laundry pile. "Deal then, sweetheart. Arrange the pillows and I'll be back out in a minute."

She blew him a mocking kiss and got to work. 

Inside the shower, as he lathered up the coconut shampoo, he considered what life choices had lead him to this point. Their borderline sexless romance was getting a little too close to the lines and he  _really_  didn't know which way he wanted it to go. He was free of obligation to her, no longer bound by his duty to keep his hands to himself or restrain hers. They could very easily fall into bed together (for sexytimes now, not just friendship cuddles and sleep) and maybe even enter a relationship. And yet, something in him kept him from crossing that line. It was like he was waiting for something, but he wasn't sure what. They both wanted each other and they both knew it. The only question now was what to do about it and he just couldn't decide. But it would be poetic, woudn't it? A cop falling in love with a borderline-criminal.

 _Hilarious_. He decided.  _It would be hilarious._


	8. A Wooden Bench

"Seems to me like you were falling in love with her."

"To be completely honest, so did I. I thought I was falling for her and I tried to stop it. I didn't know if we should yet. Something in the back of my head told me not to make any moves."

"Why? You didn't have to stop yourself."

"I know that. I'm not really sure. Caution, I think, mostly. I was just being really cautious."

"Did you have any any relationships before you met Carly? It's obvious you were single during the time she was there."

"Just a couple. I was never one to cross business with pleasure and I made it clear to my girlfriends that they came after my job."

"You're an ass."

"Yeah, well, it's true. I wouldn't have gotten through the Academy if I had let one of my girlfriends take all of my time."

"You balanced Carly well enough, you couldn't work out time for these other girls?"

"Well, that's the thing. I didn't  _let_  Carly into my life. She just . . .  _happened_  to it."

"You talk about her like a skin condition. Acne just  _happens_ , dude, not people."

"Yeah, well. I don't have an explanation for her. She was just different and that's pretty much it."

"Were you guys like that until she left?"

"Pretty much. There was only one other major incident."

"Another case?"

"Surprisingly, no. She never appeared in any other cases I worked on."

"Another asshole on her tail?"

"Something much more domestic than that. I bet you'll never guess."

"A baking contest? A food fight? Did she show up to the office with Korean barbeque? Oh God, did she try to flirt with Mark?"

"Pfft, no. None of those things."

"Then what, smartass?"

"She asked me to go to a wedding with her."

* * *

Jaebum swallowed his coffee, keeping his stare on her and level.

They were in his office and she had dropped by with coffee and sweets. He should have known then that something was up. It wasn't that Carly was nice or generous, but she didn't come to his job, specifically because she'd been a former suspect. She'd even brought enough for Youngjae, Mark, Yugyeom and Kunpimook.

"You want me to be your date to a wedding?"

She pouted. "Look, I'll buy you any suit you want and another on top of it."

"I repeat: you want  _me_  to be your date to a wedding?"

She huffed. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Umm, I really like you and you're one of the few friends I have? And about the only male friend?"

"Or you could just go alone. That's pretty novel."

"Yeah, I could, if I wanted to look like an idiot. No one goes alone to a wedding."

He sighed dramatically. "When and where?"

She jumped up from her seat, running over to hug him and squishing their cheeks together. "Thank you so much, JB!"

He winced. "I want those two suits and to be there when you pick out your dress."

"What, don't trust my taste in fashion?"

"You're in my office in black skinny jeans, with a men's oversized black t-shirt, wearing shimmery silver stilettoes. Can't say I do."

"Deal. I'll text you the details and when I'm ready to go shopping."

"Yeah, yeah. Now get out of my office. Some of us have actual work to do."

She gave him a really messy kiss to the cheek. "You won't regret it."

He stuck out his tongue at her as she gathered her things. 

* * *

Jaebum didn't really know how to feel about all this. 

Carly beside him looked stunning, her dress knee-length and a pale, steely-grey and her signature silver stilettoes (she never seemed to go anywhere without them, he'd noticed), but she wasn't the problem. What was the problem was Park Jinyoung standing across the ballroom, talking to Jinyoung Park. 

"Tell me if I'm just hallucinating, but that's can't be Junior talking to the director of the FBI, can it?"

Carly looked at him funny. "Why wouldn't it be okay?"

"Part of the reason I asked you all those quetions about Vegas was to see what Park Jinyoung - Junior - was doing there. I was asked, specifically, by Jinyoung Park - JYP - the director of the FBI because he was a suspect in organized crime there."

Her eyebrows shot into her hairline before she frowned. "Let's go talk to them."

Before he could protest, Carly was dragging him over to teh two talking men.

"Hey, JYP. Long time no see."

The older man turned, lighting up at the sight of her. "Carly! How good you could make it! I didn't know whether you'd gotten the invite properly or not, with all your moving around the country."

She smiled brightly back. "Well, this is a big wedding for your guys. I really liked Sunmi, so I'm happy to see her get married. Hopefully it's a good choice and a long lasting partnership."

"I think she picked well." Junior said. "He's a really nice, well-spoken man. Sunmi doesn't shut up about him at the office."

"Did you manage to blackmail anyone into being your plus one?" Carly teased, poking Junior's cheek. 

"You're very funny." He griped back.

"He's with me tonight." JYP chuckled. "We both had to come stag, so we're being loners together. And what about you? I imagine you're much the same."

"Hey!"

"You're the one who self-proclaimed that you have no friends." Junior snarked. 

Carly huffed and pouted at them. "Actually, I  _can_  make friends. I even made friends that didn't have anything to do with my job."

"In what way?" Junior raised an eyebrow. 

"Okay, well, I got called in for interrogation and that's how we met, but he's LAPD."

JYP outright laughed. Junior tried to hide his smirk, but it didn't work. Carly pouted harder. 

"Don't be like that!"

"You made a friend out of almost getting arrested." JYP laguhed harder. "It's quite the story."

"And where's the proof of this new LAPD friend of yours?" Junior cocked his head mockingly.

"Smartass." She growled. She pulled Jaebum - who had been edging back to the bar - up to her side. "LAPD Detective Im Jaebum. Speaking of JB, I think you two owe him an explanation."

"Explanation?" JYP calmed himself down, brows furrowing a little bit in confusion. Junior was checking Jaebum out, assessing the man standing next to one of his old friends. The detective was probably the tallest of the four of them, second in muscle mass only to Carly herself with an impressive array of earrings. His features were classically handsome - strong jawline, sharp features, cheekbones that an cut glass and a straight nose. 

Carly  _punched_  JYP in the arm. "Yeah! You got him all freaked out over Las Vegas and the casinoes! God knows why you even bothered to contact him about it in the first place or why you thought I might have left something out." She was clearly offended and JYP slouched a little with guilt. 

"It's not that we thought you were lying, just that you might have been doing other jobs on the side."

"And since when have I ever hidden my schedule when you guys asked?"

"So I was right." Jaebum said, cutting into the conversaiton, arm unconsciously wrapping around Carly's waist. He wasn't really sure why he did it, but it felt like she was defending him and he liked it. "You were using me to pump for her information."

"Next time you want something from me, just ask!" Carly huffed, punching Junior too.

"Ow! Hey! What did I do?! It was JYP who lied!"

She narrowed her eyes. "Just for good measure."

" . . . I'm telling you, Jimin, the Halseys have moved onto the east coast as well-"

Carly went stiff under his grip and Jaebum looked down at her. She didn't look upset or scared, but then her face twisted up into something that screamed trouble and she turned to her right. "Shut up, Eric!"

"Oh my God." Came an exasperated voice, but when Jaebum looked up, he couldn't tell who it was coming from. There as a feminine giggle and then Carly broke free, heading over to a small man and a very short woman in terrifying heels

"Who are they?" Jaebum asked. He was doing a lot of things without thinking today - like coming to this wedding of people he doesn't know - and it was likely going to get him in trouble before the reception started. 

"That's Eric Nam and Jimin Park." Junior supplied, throwing his arm over Jaebum's shoulder. "Carly worked very closely with me in Nevada and often came back to our HQ to go over information. Eric and Jimin were part of my team and for some reason, Eric and Carly just cannot get along."

"As in, they hate each toher?" He couldn't imagine Carly holding a grudge against anyone. She hadn't against Fred Halsey, so if she did with his Eric guy-

"Nah. They're like frienemies." Junior elaborated. "They're snarky and nasty to each other, but I think Carly just presses all of Eric's buttons for giggles, to get a rise out of him because he is  _legendarily_  patient and she just sides right past all of it to his nerve centre."

Oh. Now that, he could see. He'd seen her do that to Mark several times when he would bother them hanging out in Jaebum's apartment. "That sounds very Carly."

"I think so." Junior patted his shoulder. "So, Im Jaebum? That why she calls you JB?"

"I mean, I  _think_  so, but I'm not entirely sure." Flashes of Mark telling him he looked like a boyband member in the Academy had him wincing a little bit. He sighed a little heavier than called for. "I don't get her at all."

"She's not really meant to be gotten, more like  _caught_." Junior winked at him. "After all, I don't know anyone who's  _found_  her so much as had her appear when her name was called."

Jaebum nodded in agreement, watching the patience rapidly drain of out Mr. Nam's face.

"Oh my God, no one's listening to you,  _Eric_."

Jimin hid her mouth behind her hand, trying  _very_  hard not to find it as funny as it is.

"Should I save her?"

Junior snorted. " _Her_?"

"Yeah. Eric looks like he'll kill her on the spot. Should I go over there and save her life?"

"Well, you are a police officer." Junior cackled. "Go save the public nuisance."

Jaebum wished he wasn't so correct. "You still owe me for all that misleading bullshit about Nevada."

Junior's eyes were sparkling, gaze flickering over to Carly. "I think I already did. Go get 'em, tiger."

Junior's statement didn't quite make sense in his head until he'd saved Carly from being wall paint and she was sitting next to him at a table, head resting on his shoulder as she tried different foods and made him test them too. 

* * *

"So, are Eric and Jimin dating?"

Carly looked up from her glass of champagne to the table across from them. She sipped it idly as she watched the two of them try to cover up their desperate makeout in the back of the reception hall. "They're a friends-with-benefits type deal. I think they're probably in love, but they'll be the type to live together until they die without admitting they love each other."

Jaebum made a face when Carly poked his nipple. "To each their own, I suppose." She did it again and he batted her hand away. "Stop that, you pest."

"No." She replied stubbornly. "I wanna."

"Leave my nipples alone." And wasn't that just a weird sentence. "You're like a vulture when you get a little bit of alcohol into you."

"Yeah, well . . . " She poked his nose this time. "You're the troublesome one."

"Oh-ho, I beg to  _differ_."

"You are! You go around, looking all good and shit." She poked his stomach. "You cuddle really well, too."

"Is that your way of asking me to stay with me when we leave?"

"Kinda? I was getting more at the fact that our sexual tension is palpable."

"Were you planning on doing anything about it?"

"Mmm." She nuzzled into him a little. No doubt her makeup would leave a smear on it he would have to scrub out later or hope that the drycleaning people could get rid of. "Dunno."

"I'm not having sex with someone even mildly intoxicated anyway."

"Why not?"

"It hampers decision making. Duh."

She flicked him in the earring. "Right. Cop. Boring."

"'This boring cop is the one sitting with your drunk ass at a wedding." He replied, but the sarcasm didn't come out quite right and it sounded almost . . .fond, endeared. "Remember that."

There was a long pause, punctuated by her soft breaths on his neck. "I will."

* * *

Carly was much more sober when they finally made their excuses and left. JYP hugged both of them tightly, making them promise to call him and plan a date to meet up. Junior just rolled his eyed and took care of his boss, wishing them a good evening and hoping theyw ould see each other again sometime. They found Sunmi and her new husband, wishing the couple well and offering their congratulations. Carly also very purposefully pulled out Eric's chair on him, sending him and almost Jimin to the floor. She cackled loudly as they fled into the night, Eric's screams of outrage and his death threats following them into Jaebum's car. 

When they got back to Jaebum's apartment, Carly wasted no time. As soon as the door was closed, she kicked off her shoes and shimmied out of her dress right in the front room. Jaebum had barely loosened his tie before Carly, nearly naked, laid her dress across the back of his couch.

"I'm stealing one of your shirts." She said, prancing off down the hallway and around a corner. He followed her, mindless, and stripped himself down too. He was much more careless, leaving the clothes in a messy little trail down the hallway. He would be mad at himself come morning, but that didn't matter too much. That was for morning-him to deal with. Right now, he was too tired from the long, stiff night to do more than wander blindly to his shower. 

"Can I join you?" Her head popped into the bathroom as he pushed off his boxer-briefs. He looked over his shoulder, decided he was too tired to make decisions, and shrugged. 

"If you really want. I won't be long."

"I don't mind." She had one of his shirts in her hand, which she set aside on the counter. Then she pulled off her panties and bra right there, following him into the tiled portion of the bathroom and squeezing past him to get under the warm spray. 

"I really am living a sexless romcom."

"Huh?"

"My life is a practical joke."

"Oh. We both already knew that."

"Hmm."

No antics happened in the shower and when they got out, they dried off without incident. They both dressed - her in the shirt and him in the matching sleep shorts - and crawled into his bed. 

Then they went to sleep.


	9. A Small Park

"Was that- Woah. Dude, you look so sad. What happened?"

"Two weeks after the wedding, she stopped coming around. She stopped talking to me, meeting with me, just . . . cut contact all together. She left me like that for a month, but I didn't stop texting her, leaving her voicemails. I know she was listening to them, too, because her inbox was never full. It felt so wrong not to have her there anymore."

"Couldn't you just go hang out with other friends?"

"What other friends? I had Mark and Youngjae, maybe you and Yugyeom if I got really desperate. I have a close circle, but I never realized how small and distant it really was until she came in."

"What about Hyolyn? You went to the Police Academy with her and you're friends with her."

"I lost contact with her for a while. It was after Carly that I sought her out. She had recently transferred to LA with three friends of hers."

"Bora, Dasom and Soyou."

"Exactly. I also picked up Amber and her friend group later too."

"So, what happened to her? She just up and vanish?"

"Pretty much."

* * *

A motherfucking month and she didn't have the fucking decency to even text him back. She couldn't even just send a thoughtless emoji or something, just to tell him that she was still alive. He really wanted to punch something, but that wouldn't help. He also wanted to throw his laptop out the window, but that wouldn't help him either. It certainly wouldn't get the review Carly had written about  _Jaws_  off the screen or out from behind his eyes. Instead, he sat in the darkness of his living room, phone in one hand and laptop showing his Netflix top ten recommendations, all of which were because of what stupid shows and movies they had sat on his very couch and watched. 

Jaebum honestly didn't know what to do. 

He might be able to talk to Youngjae or Mark and get some advice (after they got over taking the piss out of him for it) but there was also the chance they would just mock him and it would never end. He could ask the newly partnered Yugyeom and Kunpimook, but he didn't want to lose their respect doing something as stupid as worrying and pining over some woman he should never have let this close in the first place. Hell, he still had Junior and JYP logged into his phone from the wedding. He would probably get the best advice from them, being the ones who seemed to have such a good, long-standing relationship with her. 

He closed the laptop, setting it gently on the coffee table, turning his phone off and setting it down beside it. He shuffled to the bathroom, washed, and took the second towel hanging on the back of the door. The baby blue one had been claimed by her the last time she was here and it felt like taboo to touch it now. He dried himself, leaving the towel over the back of his desk chair, and pulled on a set of new sleeping clothes. The ones he shared with her were in a pile next to the garbage. 

He got into bed, laying on his back. He closed his eyes, wondering again if she was alright, before falling asleep in the blackness.

* * *

Jaebum woke up to fingers carding through his hair. His clock read three am. This was either some delerious fever dream or his burgular was very nice. 

It was Carly sitting there, perched on the edge of his bed, fingers working out the knots in his hair. She was in a three-piece matching navy skirted suit, those same heels glinting mutely in the darkness. Her platinum hair was pulled back behind her shoulders, but some leaked out to grace her shoulder. 

"Carly?"

"Hi." Her smile was soft and guilty. "I'm sorry to have to do this to you, JB. I'm sorry I made you worry so much, but I'm okay and I'm going to be okay."

He blinked, still groggy and only half-listening, his body trying to will him back to sleep. "Huh?"

Her gaze felt heavy, laden with meaning he couldn't fathom. She wasn't smiling anymore. "I'm leaving, Jaebum. And I'm not coming."

"Uh . . . okay."

"I have a flight in an hour." She pursed her lips and stroked through his hair again. Was she about to cry? He couldn't decide. "I only really have one person worth saying goodbye to, so that's what I'm here to do. I'm flying out and I'm never returning to the States."

There was gravity in her statements and he was muddling through them, trying to grasp onto them. 

"So, in honour of how wonderful you've been and how much I'm going to miss you, I've got something for you. One last secret to tell you how much I care about you." She bent down and tenderly pressed a raspberry-scented kiss to his lips. Her eyes fluttered open again when she pulled back. "My name is Jackson Wang."

Not knowing what else to do, he nodded. "Jackson."

Her smile was heartbreaking. She sat back, stroking his hair again. "Go back to sleep, Jaebummie."

His body overpowered his mind now that she'd given it permission and he closed his eyes, melting back into his pillows. 

"Goodbye."

And the stroking stopped. 

* * *

"Dude, I am so sorry."

Jaebum continued to stroll, hands in his pockets. He had missed Seoul more than he thought he did. "Nothing to be sorry about, Bambam."

"No, I . . ." The younger man swallowed thickly. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"They're not bad memories. I enjoyed my time with her." he finally let himself admit it. "I miss her."

"Carly Lee was an alias, then. Her real name was . . . ?"

"Jackson Wang. Birth name, Wang Kayee. She was born in Hong Kong to an Olympic gymnast mother and a business executive father. She took fencing since the first time she saw it and learned martial arts in her early twenties. Somewhere along the lines, she got mixed up in borderline criminal activity, which lead her to the States."

" . . .Where did she go after she left?"

"Carly Lee was on a flight to Milan, Italy. She stayed there for eight months, likely doing more jobs and passing on IDs, before Jackson Wang booked a flight back to Hong Kong. Her mother was really ill at the time, so she probably went back there to look after her for a while. Carly, Jackson nor Kayee booked anymore flights for the next two years that I monitored it, so she's probably in Hong Kong somewhere still. Maybe we'll even see her in the next summer Olympics."

Bambam frowned, rubbing his back. "What would you do if you seen her up there?"

Just the thought of it brought up a perverse sense of pride. "I would be happy to see her . . . being amazing."

They continued walking, the low hum of people and shops filling the emptiness of their conversation. Jaebum could tell Bambam was struggling for a new topic, something that wouldn't dismiss the powerful feelings of the previous while not being as heavy. He was struggling hard. 

"Look, Kunpimook, you don't have to feel bad for me or try to make it any better. It is what it is."

"I just . . . I don't know what to do now."

"I think I've done enough narrating. How about you tell me something about Thailand? Yugyeom mentioned something about your mother owning a Korean culture store? Whatever that's supposed to mean."

Bambam looked dubious, but didn't say anything. He looked down at the sidewalk, trying to think of how to begin or what to begin with. 

Silver sparkles.

Jaebum stopped dead in his tracks and Bambam walked right into him. Before the younger man could even ask what the hell happened, Jaebum was off, walking single-mindedly into the small park-like area between two small businesses. His long stride left Bambam in the dust and he wove thorugh the concrete balustrades of the park with ease engrained into him since childhood. 

The man who had been passed the tablet put it in his jacket with a nod to the woman in the shoes that had caught Jaebum's attention. He left the park swiftly, without a backward glance, but the chestnut-haired woman didn't follow. She stayed, crossing her legs at the ankles and leant on her elbows, looking out over the rest of the park. There were some parents playing with their children, little ones on playdates together and some people sitting and talking on the scattered benches. 

"Where the hell are you going?" Bambam called out after him, but he didn't stop. He couldn't stop. He knew. He could tell.

He halted right behind the brunette woman, tapping the heel of her shoe with the top of his. She jumped and his arms snaked around her waist, his lips right next to her ear. 

"Caught you."

She choked off a gasp and twisted as much as she could. Even framed by brown hair instead of that striking platinum, Jackson was still a sight to behold, her big eyes widening even further when she finally got to look at him, her mouth falling open.

"Jaebum?"

"I caught you. After all this time, _I_  got  _you_."

"Oh my God, you can't just hug random women, Jae!" Bambam chastized, pulling him away.

To everyone's surprise, it was Jackson herself who reached out, grabbing his waist and pressing herself into his chest. "No." She blinked, like she hadn't intended to speak. Her voice was firmer the second time. "No. He caught me, fair and square."

"Okay, who the fuck are you?"

"Jackson Wang."

* * *

Bambam had very wisely decided he was going to get his own hotel room. Jaebum was definitely grateful.

Jackson had followed him back to his hotel room in silence. When he closed the door behind him, locking it, he was finally alone with her again. She looked very different from what he imagined she'd be. Carly had been a flirtatious vixen, always playing but never serious. Jackson was still very mucht he same woman, but her big eyes and vague frown told him everything; the guilt, the sadness, the loneliness, the hope were all eating away at her insides and she didn't know which one to believe. 

"I had another secret." She blurted, suddenly. 

He nodded, not moving away from the door, but facing her more fully. She swallowed thickly and fought the instinct to fidget. 

"I had another secret." She repeated, softer, more controlled. "I love you."

He almost wanted to be mad, to throw six years of silence in her face and make her suffer for all the sleepess nights and lonely mornings. 

"It's not much consolation." She admitted, gripping the long sleeves of her black sweater. "I love you. From the moment you saved me right until now, I've loved you."

"I love you too." He murmured, his voice a low rumble. "Fuck, I love you so much."

"I didn't want to leave. I had to. I got called back. My business in the States was done and I couldn't stall anymore." Her eyes were beading with tears. "Then my mother got worse. I didn't want leave you and certainly not like that. Please."

His hands twitched at his sides. "I know."

She twisted her hands together. "So where are we now?"

"I finally caught you." He said again, finally moving into the room and stopping just in front of her. She had to look up at him and that made pride swell in his chest. "I did it."

"The only one." She chuckled weakly. "You chased me halfway around the world."

"And I got you." His hands settled on her hips, pulling her closer. "Do I get to keep you?"

She stared up at him. "Yes."

* * *

Jaebum woke up to knocks on his hotel room door. 

"Jaebum, I'm going to go exploring for a bit. So uh, text me, I guess." It was Bambam. He almost felt bad.

Warm skin slid against warm skin as Jackson burrowed her face into his neck, her hand cupping the joint of his neck and shoulder. He turned back to her, arm wrapped around her naked waist, and rubbed his nose into her hair. Her leg was thrown over his hips, his other hand on her thigh. On his side of the bed were those silver heels, right where they'd been dropped when Jaebum had stripped her of them as he kissed up her shin. 

His phone went off on the bedside table. 

 **Mark Tuan**   _You got with Silver Belle? Duuuuuuuude. We have to talk as soon as you can stop sucking face._

"Stop thinking so loud." Jackson murmured against his collarbone. "I want to make up for all that lost cuddling time."

"Then stop talking." He replied, just as lowly. 

"You know I can't do that."

He did. But he just smiled into her hair, pulling her closer. 


End file.
